Ramblings of love, politics, happenings, and a mid-mid life crisis

Penguin Encounters

I have been traveling a LOT lately. My most recent work trip took me to Dayton, Ohio. I went up for the weekend before the meeting to spend some time with my friend from college, Lauren. We took a short drive down to Cincinnati/Newport area to visit the Newport Aquarium. Really, its a decent aquarium – lots of differnt exibits, but much like the Georgia Aquarium…way too many people for my comfort!

The highlight (and the reason for going) was the behind the scenes tour where we were able to interact with the penguins. It may sound silly, but one of my life goals was to pet a penguin. I just have been so curious what they feel like.

My very first penguin petting experience

It was pretty cool to have 6 little African penguins waddling around you. The aquarium staff were nice and informative, but you could tell that the majority of the time, they were interacting with 4 year olds. (You’ll notice in the videos below.) There was a lot of talk about penguin poop. The first video caught one little guy (actually girl —they were all girls) shaking her tailfeathers. It was pretty cute until you realize its what they do right before the pooping commences. Also, we felt so bad for the little outcast penguin the corner. She apparently gets picked on, so she hangs out all by herself. I bet I could write a childrens book with that theme. Hmmm…

Here is a little video of me being completely giddy about my up-close encounter with the penguins. You can also hear Lauren say in reference to their feathers, “It looks like carbon fiber.” Yeah, we are totally nerdy.

They were also funny just to watch. They were surprisingly catlike, without the catlike reflexes. They would become transfixed by a fruit fly, only to scurry across the floor in a mad attempt to catch it. It seemed like they really liked to play.

Some more photos from the day…

And of course, no trip to an aquarium is complete without comparing your height to that of a shark.

Overall, a very fun day. If you are ever in the area and like penguins, you definitely should check it out! Now, to the next item on the life-goal list…haha! 🙂

2 Responses

Soft and smooth, feathery but not floofy. Significantly less oily than I was expecting, but you could tell there was some oils to keep all the feathers in line. I think it could be comparable to some other birds with short feathers.